Ligado 5G rollout and GPS interference

[fossana]

I missed the chatter around this up until I saw the recent WaPo opinion piece, but I thought I would share given the potential impact on GPS backcountry navigation. The gist of it is that Ligado was approved to deliver 5G over a repurposed portion of the L-band spectrum, which sits very close to the region that is used for GPS. I spoke to a former coworker in the GNSS industry, who said the greatest impact will be on low quality GPS receivers (e.g. mobile phones). At any rate, it sounds like something to keep an eye on for those using mobile apps.


source: CRS


A few articles on the topic:

• Physics Today. Aug 2020. New 5G exemption may jam GPS devices
• Congressional Research Service. May 2020. Spectrum Interference Issues: Ligado, the L-Band, and GPS